[Apollo]

Quote by: Charlatan I don't know much about AI, but do you mind if I build it up logically? So you tell a computer it needs to survive, to stay functioning for as long as possible, and it needs to learn how to do that. If you take a computer you need to input basic features to get that going, like recognition of foods - batteries - like in one of the previous examples. The robot will need to regonise that food in his own way, but a deviation in the size of the battery would result in it not knowing what it is. Simply it needs to be told to keep functioning, and that to do this it needs the batteries. Can it move onto other places to look for batteries? Does it have this programmed into it? Which way will it go? With a complex program, it could be told that batteries are near to people, like a fly looks for food. So it will regard people as the providers of batteries, and could become a child looking for batteries. I don't think it will be able to look for batteries on it's own, so it will remain a child, looking to the people as providers of those, or something else that moves. So it will remain dependant on people to charge them for it, and to identify the place to go to get more batteries.

Several robots smiler to the one you're describing are already in existence, one of them is currently sitting on my desk. When the batteries reach a low level it will roll around in a random object avoidance pattern in search of sun to charge the batteries (solar powered) While its not of the caliber you're describing with human recognition and all that jazz, the principle is still the same, a self sustaining robot.

In making something learn, you need to tell it that anything that equals more existence is good, so that they have 'instinct'. In choosing what to store, it needs to store everything so that it remebers the bad and the good, that is a vital part of instinct, remebering things that don't work will lead to them avoiding those things in future, naturally. But how will it react to something new? It will either, based on previous experience, be curious or scared, as I guess those are two 'emotions' that will counter each other. So how do you make a computer curious? They will most likely seek out more battery power to consume, so will be more willing to forego their fear of eating poison and try the new thing out, seeing as how they needs that as part of their 'instinct'.

You're making leaps and bounds here, programming a robot with the ability to 'remember' where a food source is (we'll say sunlight for the sake of consistency) does not create a sentient, aware being. Every single thing that you're suggesting can be done with standard code, as for introducing a new variable to the environment you cannot assume a machine will show emotion. Chances are that unless a specific directive was programmed into the robot's memory to avoid battery draining devices, it will continue to function as normal (assuming it survived the encounter), completely oblivious to the new variable.

But how do you make it regonise new shapes? It has a video thing to recognise new shapes, and will be encouraged to investigate them because it needs power, so we are looking at artificial intelligence that is made to survive, as that is what intelligence is - the seeking of survival. If this thing seeks survival it has intelligence.

Seeking survival has nothing to do with intelligence, I've been over and have modified the lines of BASIC that control my little robot, adaptability to a situation or variable is all in the hands of the programmer.

I have the feeling I completely missed the point of your post, so please correct me if I'm wrong.